Tech Blog

[#1]

If there is one feature of blogs that I absolutely adore it's the ability to interact with your audience.  I find this ability to truly engage your audience much more appealing than your standard static news website.  That's probably why I find myself frequenting gaming blogs such as Joystiq, Kotaku and Destructoid so much. 

So I'm trying out a new poll feature today and I hope it works *crosses fingers*.  For my very first poll I'm curious to find out if anyone out there considers themselves a fan of retro gaming. Or more specifically, gamers who enjoy classic arcade games, PCs such as the C-64, Colecovision, or Amiga and early generation gaming consoles such as the Atari, NES or Genesis.

The reason I have retro on the brain today is because this weekend I was invited over to a friend's house for a 'retro marathon' gaming session where we fired-up a number of classic video game consoles such as the Master System, NES, Genesis, SNES, and N64.  It was great fun and the experience brought back nostalgic moments from my childhood where I spent countless hours in front of my computer screen (I played all my consoles off my Commodore 64 monitor).  

From time-to-time I must admit that I get these retro cravings to plunk down an old 8-bit and 16-bit game cartridge and re-live some classic moments in gaming.  Over the course of the evening we played such classics as Mario Kart, WWF Raw, Super Bomberman, Mega Man, Knights of the Round, Road Rash, Crusin' USA and the very clunky boxing game Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2.

Of course whenever you power up a cherished retro game that you haven't experienced in more than a decade you're taking a moderate risk.  Some games withstand the test of time, while others clearly feel dated and uninspired.  Of the above mentioned games the ones that seemed to stand out the most were the party games such as Mario Kart, Super Bomberman, and the games that still possess decent play control (compared to today's standards) such as Road Road and Knights of the Round. 

After playing several hours of 80's and 90's games you really do gain a better appreciation of the advances in game control and design.  Many games in the NES-era were made to be punishing (*cough* Ninja Gaiden & Contra) and that's where a lot of the replay value was derived.  The goal was to learn patterns, master the controls and in many respects play the perfect game in order to clear the game.  I remember playing games such Contra for NES and Gradius III for the SNES where the only way I could beat the game was to enter the omnipresent Konami Code to gain extra lives and power-ups.  [Note: Astute retro gamers will note that the Konami Code is the third option in the poll!]

Games sure have changed in the last 20 years.  Nowadays it's more about progression and gradual difficulty arcing vs. memorization and unforgiving difficulty.  While I could lament that contemporary games are simpler, and in some cases far too easy in comparison to retro games, but when I actually go back and replay first generation games I find myself a little frustrated and flustered.  Perhaps the softening of modern games isn't so bad after all. 

Still, I can't deny the appeal of retro games.  They are the building blocks upon which this industry was constructed.  If it weren't for these games I wouldn't have had such a fun-filled childhood.  I still remember the first time I saved Princess Peach...and found out she's in another castle.  *sigh*

Message Edited by PaulH on 06-30-2009 08:27 AM

Message Edited by Julez on 07-29-2009 05:04 PM

Message Edited by Laura on 08-21-2009 04:44 PM

[#2]

Definitely!  Excellent post.

My top three games of all-time are actually on the SNES, which I've still got hooked up in my room to an old tube - for those wondering, those games are Secret of Mana, Earthbound, and Final Fantasy IV. 

To be honest, I''d comfortably say that my game-time with my PS2/PS3 is about equal to my SNES time on a yearly basis.   Obviously when a big game is launched I'm pretty wrapped up in it (so basically from September until New Year's these days, way too many big games hit during the holidays!) but for the slow months of the year nothing beats a trip down memory lane.

[#3]

@ lilwingman

Great to see another retro gamer in the house!  All three of those games you mentioned are classic to say the least. It's really cool to hear that you're into old-school Japanese RPGs -- they literally consumed 1/4 of my childhood.  To your list I would also add Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Orge Battle, Drakkhen, Lagoon, 7th Saga and Breath of Fire.  All of those where great games I played for many hours on my SNES, it would be interesting to revisit them to see how they have held up over time.  

Quite frankly, I wish I had more time to retro game.  I'm so busy these days trying to keep up with all the exciting games in the pipeline for this fall and beyond that I hardly have to to reinvest into classics.  At the end of the day though, I feel so fortunate to have grown up with these games -- such great experiences I've had!

[#4]

Dude, take Select out of the poll. You only use that if you're playing two-player Contra -- it's not a part of the actual Konami Code. >_>

But, yeah, I find myself going back to the classic games every now and then. I play Phantasy Star 4 once a year, just because. My roommate and I are working our way through Secret of Mana (multiplayer, woo!) when we haven't kicked out the Super Mario All-Stars. (Lost Levels is brutal.)

With the advent of the Internet, it's even easier to enjoy many classic games that never even made it to North America. Secret of Mana 2, for example, as well as the first Tales game, Tales of Phantasia.

And, uhh, yeah, not to mention Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. When I was young, I always thought Ryu was on a quest to find Ken, so everyone he'd dragon punch, he'd invariably ask, "AAAARE YOU KEN!?" ...That didn't explain why Ken did it, though.